Eastern/Central Europe Trip

[Elmo]

Pic #1.  Main fountain in Buda Castle in Budapest.

Pic #2.  Deli in Prague airport.

[Dinsdale]

And this little piggy went to market......

 

Great exchange rate with the Euro, good time for a trip.

[EspressoBuzz]

Headed to Italy in September for 3 weeks but no hunting trip planned, but I will go out squid and tuna fishing.

[wooly]

Pic #1.  Main fountain in Buda Castle in Budapest.

Pic #2.  Deli in Prague airport.

 

Let me get this right..... you take a trip across the ocean, to a far away land, and the only two pics you bring back are of a statue and a stuffed animal,lol

You gotta do better than that.... no holding back on us now!

[Lawdwaz]

OK Elmo, what the hell man?

Did you go did you go or just snatch those pics off the web?

Details man, details.

[BizCT]

Looks like an Excalibur xbow

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Elmo]

I just got back yesterday and went back to work the very next day.  Haven't uploaded all the pics yet.

 

Europe has never been my thing.  Always preferred exotic locations or adventurous types of trips.  Example, my picks for this year were India, Morocco, or Cuba in that order of preference but the wife was all like "Why do we always go where you want to go, blah, blah, blah, we haven't been to Europe, I want to go to Europe...".  We considered Spain/Portugal, a drive through northern France, Italy, but ultimately settle with Budapest>Vienna>Prague.

 

Budapest was okay.  It's small, a bit run down, and has a bit of the old communism feel where some buildings are falling apart and people general look poor.  Still, the people are super friendly and humble.  They have a ton of thermal baths there so we went to one of them and got a full spa treatment.  Got to keep the wife happy.  The Szechenyi Baths is the highlight Budapest.

 

Vienna was really nice.  The city was clean and super stroller friendly (designated stroller spots on public transportation, etc.).  The Schonbrunn Palace was the highlight of Vienna.  It was the emperor's private hunting ground/summer palace.  It is sickening and yet fascinating to see how filthy rich these people use to be.  The problem with Vienna was that people were a bit rude.  I now see how tourist view New Yorkers.  It was like they were trying to get to work/class and we were in their way.

 

Prague was simply thee most beautiful city of the three.  You really feel like you're back in the 16th century walking around Prague.  The problem with Prague is that it has become such a tourist attraction, it is flooded with tourist to the point that it became hard to enjoy the sights.  There was also a bunch of beggars there that you didn't see in the other two cities.  Oddly, a bunch of those beggars looked like American student backpackers.  Highlight of Prague for us was the Golden Lane in Prague Castle.  It's a street in the Castle grounds that was perfectly preserved from years ago and you can enter the house, go up their stairs, etc.  At the very end of the Golden Lane is the prison tower with torture chamber and everything.

 

One common theme amongst the three cities is that we got a bunch of stares.  It doesn't appear that they've ever seen an Asian with a Hispanic before which made them even more curious as to what our son looks like.  This being the first trip that we were comfortable enough taking our son out of the country, I don't have other places to compare it with.

 

I will post pics as soon as I have time.

 

[Elmo]

Let me get this right..... you take a trip across the ocean, to a far away land, and the only two pics you bring back are of a statue and a stuffed animal,lol

You gotta do better than that.... no holding back on us now!

 

Ha!  It's a hunting forum and I didn't go hunting on this trip so I posted the only hunting related pics I took even if it is a bit of a stretch to even call these pics hunting related.  Didn't think you guys and gals even care for my vacation photos.  I'll post when I get the chance.

[Elmo]

http://elmochan.smugmug.com/Travel/BudapestViennaPrague/50327610_r39Twd#!i=4174922805&k=sRKR8xK

[wooly]

Beautiful shots Elmo!

You do a great job with the architecture and cultural stuff! I wouldn't even know where to begin there!

I picked up a 50mm 1.8 for this kind of street stuff, but I found I don't get out enough to use it as much as I hoped I would.

What camera and lens did you use here most?

Thanks for letting us tag along on the photo journey with you!

[Elmo]

Beautiful shots Elmo!

You do a great job with the architecture and cultural stuff! I wouldn't even know where to begin there!

I picked up a 50mm 1.8 for this kind of street stuff, but I found I don't get out enough to use it as much as I hoped I would.

What camera and lens did you use here most?

Thanks for letting us tag along on the photo journey with you!

 

Thanks.

 

The panoramic shots were done from my iPhone.  All others are with my Canon 6D.  I use a 24-105mm F4 as my all purpose lens and that was the only item I bought with me for this trip.  No tripod, flash, etc.  Had to pack light since the wife bought everything but the kitchen sink for the baby.  The 24-105mm F4 is nice and a good choice for all purpose, jack of all trades master of none type of lens.  I bought it years ago but if I went back in time, I would not have gotten it.  Most of my pictures are street photography and landscapes.  98% of all my shots are under 70mm and being able to go below F4 would have been nice.

 

When it comes to architecture and street photography, you want to get as wide of an angle as you can get without getting fish-eyed.  I've been told by many experts that the best zoom is your legs and as I gained more and more experience, I realize how true that is.  Unlike wildlife, most architecture and street photography, you can get up close with your subjects.  But when you're indoors, you may not be able to step back (small room, wall behind you, etc).

 

Ever since I started hunting, I stopped taking pictures.  I replaced one form of "shooting" with another form of "shooting" and so the only time the camera gets dusted off is during vacations or special events.  Now that I'm comfortable enough with hunting where I don't always feel like I need to be successful every time out I think I might bring the camera out here and there.